Here’s video highlights and post-game comments from UMBC volleyball’s match against Ohio State on September 10, 2010. Ohio State prevailed, 3-0, but the Retrievers made a very strong showing in front of a big RAC Arena crowd of 511. Also, courtesy of the America East blog, AExtra, here’s an account of the game from Curtis Schickner, a UMBC junior and member of the baseball team.

“It was amazing. We haven’t felt that much excitement and energy in the gym since we beat Binghamton last year,” exclaimed senior Sabrina Hoeks after tonight’s prime time game against Ohio State University, in Baltimore. The Retrievers went head-to-head against one of the best teams in the Big Ten conference and held their own. Starting five freshmen, UMBC exploded out of the gates, keeping up with the taller and more experienced Buckeyes. The first game teetered back-and-forth as both teams flaunted thunderous serves and towering blocks until 21-21. Two errors eventually gave way to a Buckeye win in the first game, 25-22. And although the Retrievers lost the match in three straight sets, the dawgs were able to take a lot from the game tonight. Sabrina added on the moral of the team, “No one is disappointed that we lost this game tonight. There were a couple of little mistakes that kept us from the win but other than that we played great. Everything we’ve been working on since last week and preseason is really starting to come together.”

The Retrievers can attribute most of their confidence to the huge turnout of fans for tonight’s game. Students packed the stands waving rally towels, blowing horns, and chanting after every point. Student-athletes from each team were on hand to add “boom” onto every one of Sabrina’s serves.

Freshman Hallie Carter turned out her best match of the season, recording twelve digs at libero and seeming to return almost every spike of the 6’3” outside hitters from Ohio State. For a team that has recently entered matches slow and on their heels, the Retrievers were on their toes from the very first serve tonight. When asked about her feelings going into the match tonight, Hallie explained, “You’re always nervous before a game, especially when you’re playing such good opponents like Ohio State. The important thing is you just have to go out there and play. The crowd certainly did help a lot in terms of calming us down and getting us fired up. But ultimately it was our energy, and our confidence, and our concentration on just playing that made it a lot easier to get over the nervousness.”

Hallie was right, the crowd did have an impact on the game tonight. Ohio State Head Coach Geoff Carlston pointed out, “It was loud…I was commenting earlier that this [arena] is a perfect size for volleyball…this has got to be one of the biggest crowds we’ve had this season…” As every athlete knows, bigger crowds add more excitement to the game. Sabrina talked about the impact of the crowd, “It really feels nice to have our school behind us, knowing that we have fans and people who actually support us. It’s a big energy lifter. When it’s quiet in here it’s hard for us to be loud and energized, but when we have a good crowd it’s awesome.”

Half time featured a serving contest for all the students in the crowd. T-shirts were strewn across the court as students hit volleyballs over the net and tried to land them on the shirts. Those lucky enough to land a ball on the shirt went home with a Retriever shirt from the athletic department.

The Retrievers play two more games on Saturday against Brown University and Sacred Heart University. The tournament finishes up when Towson University takes on Ohio State University at 7:00pm.